The Sundering

Exploration and Rebirth

My Path started today, though not at all as I expected. I was preparing the last of my equipment, ready to set out from Silverymoon to one of the other villages in the area. Suddenly, I was in another place. There is no other way to explain it: one instant I was in my quarters at the monastery, and in the next, my quarters were gone. I found myself in an unfamilar room where someone had obviously lived for some time. There was a man sagging in a chair in the room, clearly recovering from a significant exersion of effort. There was another man standing nearby, watching the other with concern.

There were four others standing near me, glancing around furtively, confusion and nervousness apparent in their auras. Two of the four were men, one dressed in the garb of a wizard or sage, though not in a style that was currently fashionable in Silverymoon. The other was sitting upon some strange device that kept him hovering in the air. He held an obsidian orb chained to his wrist. The other two were women. One was dressed for battle, and dressed in armor that had clearly seen many. The armor did not fit her quite right, as if it had not been fitted for someone else. And the pieces did not all match. She carried a punching dagger and looked like she was ready to use it. Odd that someone would be dressed for battle in the area near Silverymoon. There were no wars ongoing, or even any minor skirmishes. Of course, perhaps we were no longer in that area; I realized that I had no reason to assume I was still anywhere near Silverymoon.

The second of the two women was the greatest shock of all: it was my sister, Natalia. I had not seen her for some time, since I had completed the blinding ritual that opened my Third Eye. She looked about the same. A little older. A little thinner. A few more scars. But still my sister. And after a few minutes, it was clear that the sharp edges of her personality had not yet been dulled by time or wisdom.

The exhausted man in the chair began speaking, and over the next several minutes wove a fanastic tale. He introduced himself as Astourian, which actually lent some legitimacy to his story, as I recognized the name from some historical texts that I had studied at the monastery. The man claimed that he was one of the Chosen of Iona, and that he had lived for roughly a thousand years, since before the enclaves were separated from one another. He explained that the world is in its current state because at that time, something happened to Iona, the goddess of magic, and magic stopped functioning correctly. The most powerful mages of the time acted quickly, sacrificing themselves in a great ritual that protected some areas of the world from the cataclysm, thus establishing the enclaves. Each enclave was preserved via a powerful artifact or Chosen that was bound to the land of that area. The great mages also cast a second ritual that created channels of travel between the enclaves. These travel mechanisms were protected, and available only to a select few.

As Astourian spoke, he began aging at an alarming pace. He explained that he had used the last of his life force to summon us, and that he would perish in less than an hour. He did not know whey the five of us had been the ones picked up in the ritual, but he asked us to continue his quest to restore magic and revive the areas of the land that were not protected by enclaves. He said that about 80% of the world is currently covered in the strange mists that surround the enclaves, and that the civilized races of the world could put this land to great use if it were restored.

Astourian also showed us a dagger made of black crystal, which he had taken from a shapeshifter. The blade’s aura betrayed that it was not a normal weapon, and was fueled by a sinister energy. He closed the dagger in a case that seemed to block its energy, and entrusted the case to us.

Astourian also entrusted us with three ritual scrolls. The scrolls were copies of the rituals that established the enclaves and the travel networks, which were cast by the group of mages a thousand years ago. The third scroll was a copy of the ritual that Astourian had used to summon the five of us. Astourian also gave us each a silver medallion that could be used to access the travel networks. He warned us that the use of these medallions were sure to attract attention, because they were so antique. Astourian gave us some idea of where the travel network could be accessed: Silverymoon, Waterdeep, Thaymount, the capital of Cormir, and the Iron Keep in the Moonshae Isles.

Astourian mentioned that he had had several visions related to our quest. He recited a list of them, though they made litle sense out of context.
[List of visions]

Finally, Astourian gave us each a piece of Dalium. He explained that it is the rarest material in the world, and that it was essentially magic made substance. Each of us touched a piece of the metal, and it dissolved into magic energy, and flooded into some of the items that we carried, imbuing the items with amazing magical powers.

Astourian only had moments left, and warned us that he had cast a ritual which would encase his quarters in amber upon his death, thus protecting its contents. He told us that were in a keep with the enclave of Silverymooon that had once been known as Hellgate Keep.

Astourian passed, and we made our way out quickly, before the amber filled the chamber. Astourian’s servant stayed behind, loyal to his master until the end. He went lower into the keep, and found a hallway leading to a door protected by a glowing rune. The hallway led to four different rooms. Each of the rooms contained zombies and other foul undead, which we destroyed without too much effort. I was encouraged to see that the three strangers were well-prepared for battle. The armored female was named Kat, and was a competent fighter. The man in the chair called himself Kyle, and employed psionic powers, which I had read about but never seen. The robed man was named Astorian and wielded powerful magic. And of course my sister held her own, with her unique mix of street fighting and monastic form. I think I held my own as well, healing our wounds and smashing our foes.

Once the zombies were defeated, it was a quick matter to figure out how to disable the room and give us access to the lower level. We decided to rest before continuing, as the battles had taken much of our strength.

I have written for too long, and should rest myself. What an interesting day, and an intriguing beginning of my Path.

A blog for your campaign

While the wiki is great for organizing your campaign world, it’s not the best way to chronicle your adventures. For that purpose, you need a blog!

The Adventure Log will allow you to chronologically order the happenings of your campaign. It serves as the record of what has passed. After each gaming session, come to the Adventure Log and write up what happened. In time, it will grow into a great story!

Best of all, each Adventure Log post is also a wiki page! You can link back and forth with your wiki, characters, and so forth as you wish.

One final tip: Before you jump in and try to write up the entire history for your campaign, take a deep breath. Rather than spending days writing and getting exhausted, I would suggest writing a quick “Story So Far” with only a summary. Then, get back to gaming! Grow your Adventure Log over time, rather than all at once.